Arians: 30 touches isn't too much for David Johnson, because we'll 'take care of him'
The last time someone averaged 30 touches per game? 1984
David Johnson made headlines when he recently revealed he wants to record 1,000 receiving yards and 1,000 rushing yards in 2017 -- a feat that's been accomplished just twice in NFL history. By the sound of it, his coach will give him the chance to become the third player to do so.
On Wednesday, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians appeared on "PFT Live," where he explained how he plans on using Johnson during the upcoming season.
"I think [his usage is] just right. I'd like to get it up a little bit more in receiving yards," Arians said, via Pro Football Talk. "Early in the season he had a chance to have big games and he ran the wrong route a couple of times. I kept telling him all year about that. I said, 'You would have had your 1,000 and 1,000 [rushing and receiving yards] if you'd have busted those ones in September. … I think 30 touches is not too much for him when you're talking about 10 receptions, 20 carries. And that's not 20 times up the middle where he's gonna get busted up. We're going to make sure we take care of him."
That last part is the important part. Back in March, Arians made the football world panic when he said that Johnson was "too young to overuse." He also noted that he wanted to get Johnson 30 touches per game, so his stance there hasn't changed at all. Johnson responded by saying he could handle the workload.
On the surface, getting Johnson 30 touches per game is awesome, because Johnson is arguably the most electric and versatile playmaker in the game. He led the league with 2,118 yards from scrimmage, averaging 5.68 yards per touch. He recorded at least 100 yards from scrimmage in every game of the season until he was forced to exit in Week 17 with an early injury. He's a running back, but he won Pro Football Focus' award for the game's best receiver.
David Johnson can do it all. pic.twitter.com/uSq8oraUzH
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) June 16, 2017
Last year, Johnson averaged 23.3 touches per game. If he were to average 30 touches per game and maintain his production from last season, Johnson would accumulate roughly 2,726 yards from scrimmage, which would break Chris Johnson's single-season record of 2,509 yards in 2009. Again, from a pure football perspective, this would be awesome to watch.
But it could end up jeopardizing Johnson's long-term future in the league.
In the quote above, Arians didn't alter his line of thinking from March at all. He still wants to give Johnson the ball 30 times. All he did was add a line at the end about taking care of Johnson. But at this point, it's worth wondering: Is it even possible to take care of someone when you're giving them the ball 30 times per game?
We'll find out in a few months. Hopefully, Arians knows what he's doing, because running Johnson into the ground would be a damn shame.
Finally, here's where it's necessary to point out that there's a difference between Arians saying he wants to give Johnson 30 touches per game and Arians actually giving Johnson all of those touches. I'm skeptical it'll actually happen because it almost never does. It's really difficult to give the ball to someone that many times.
The last time someone averaged 30 touches per game over the course of a season? James Wilder in 1984. It's worth noting, however, that the 1984 Buccaneers' season was as bleak as the novel:
And @pfref can tell you how exciting that 1984 Bucs offense was pic.twitter.com/OFOV5ReNXa
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) March 29, 2017
That's probably something Arians would like to avoid.
















